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Harvey's start heads south; Mets can't pounce on Fister

3/24/13: Ike Davis brings home Justin Turner with a single to right field, tying the game at 2 in the bottom of the third

By Anthony DiComo
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MLB.com |

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Doug Fister's inconsistent spring continued on Sunday in a 9-4 Tigers win Sunday over the Mets at Tradition Field.

Fister, who entered the game with a 7.36 Grapefruit League ERA, walked four batters and allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings. Though he was able to limit the overall damage, Fister has now walked 12 batters over 19 1/3 spring innings.

The Mets scored their only runs off Fister on a wild pitch in the second inning and Ike Davis' RBI single in the third. Al Alburquerque later struck out three New York batters in an impressive inning of relief.

Though Mets starter Matt Harvey looked sharp early, striking out the side in the first, he walked in a run in the second inning and gave up four runs in total. Two of those came during a fourth-inning rally that saw Omar Infante triple in a run and Austin Jackson double home another.

"It was one of those outings where everything felt really good, and I tried to do a little bit too much instead of backing off a little bit and executing the pitch and just going with what I had," Harvey said. "But everything clicked toward the end, and that's definitely a positive note that I took away from the start."

Don Kelly blew the game open with a two-run homer off Mets reliever Brandon Lyon in a five-run seventh inning, shortly after outfielder Matt den Dekker left the game with an apparent right wrist injury.

Up next: The Mets will make one last trip to Disney on Monday for a 1:05 p.m. game against the Braves in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Right-hander Dillon Gee, who believes something clicked for him late in his last start against the Astros, will start opposite Atlanta lefty Mike Minor. Gee, who is slated to start the Mets' fourth game of the regular season, has two spring outings to go.

Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDicomo. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.